Pest of the week

It is possible that your garden pruners or loppers could be spreading diseases from plant to plant in between pruning.  However, with pruning at this time in the season when plants and most virus and bacteria are dormant, the risk is minimal.  If you are cutting within the warmer seasons, when both plants and diseases are actively growing, the percentage increases in the spreading of harmful pests.  Sometimes it is hard to tell if a plant is infected, so if you want to be on the safe side, dip your shears in a 10% bleach solution before going to the next plant.

Emerald Ash Borer found in Iowa along the banks of the Mississippi river in Allamakee County.  This is the first confirmed case of the EAB in Iowa.  This pest is native of to Eastern Asia and was first detected in near Detroit, Michigan in 2002.  The pest kills all species of Ash trees at a devastating rate.  The are approximately 80 million Ash trees in Iowa that are at a severe risk to be infested and possibly killed by the Emerald Ash Borer. 

Anthracnose is a common fungal disease that affects many varieties in Kansas each year.  Some affected trees are:  Maple, Ash, Sycamore, Elm, Oak, Walnut and Cottonwood. Many of these diseases develop in the spring and have similar leaf symptoms (blotchy leaf spots), but the common thread to all anthracnose diseases is the fact that the fungi which cause them produce similar, cup-like fruiting structures (spore-producing structures) called acervuli. These fungi also are host specific.

It is time to spray Pines for tip and needle blight diseases.  The target time to spray is when the candles or shoots (new growth) begin to elongate which is normally in Late April-May.  However, due to the unseasonably warm winter and spring, they are elongating right now.  Timing of fungicide sprays are imperative to control the disease.  If the spraying is done too early or too late, it is useless.  We recommend a series of 2-3 sprays approx. 14-21 days apart.  Please call us if you have any questions.

Good Morning-  Last week I noticed rose aphids for the first time on one of our properties.  Aphids are easily controlled with insecticides or a sharp spray of water on the bush to knock them off the plant.  Rose aphids are soft bodied insects approx. 1/4" in size and will vary in color from green to red.

This season is becoming a who's who of ornamental pests, especially aphids or every shape, size and variety.  A couple weeks ago we blogged about aphids on daylilies and roses.  Today I found Ash Curl aphids in full force completely devestating new growth.  The whooly aphid is also a problem on apples, sumac and pyracantha.  Please keep a look out.  Pyrethroids and many other insecticides will take care of these.  Please give us a call if you're seeing any problems.

We predicted a rough year for insects due to the lack of winter we had this year, but we had no idea that insects would be quite as bad as they've been this year.  Spider mites are very active right now (approx.

Courtesy of the Kansas City Star-

"The Missouri Department of Agriculture officially confirmed Wednesday that the emerald ash borer, an insect native to Asia that feeds on and kills ash trees, has been found in Platte County.

Officials had been watching for its arrival ever since the emerald ash borer was found in southeast Missouri in 2008.

Wednesday’s announcement could be a slow-moving death sentence for many ash trees in the metro area.

The Kansas Department of Agriculture has implemented a Federal Quarantine for Wyandotte County, KS.  Read more about this quarantine at https://www.ksda.gov/plant_protection/content/379/cid/2023.  Wyandotte county is in our own backyard, so its just a matter of time before it starts affecting us...I can almost guarantee the pest is already here, it just hasn't been discovered yet.  Are you ready?  Please contact us today to learn about how you can save your Ash trees.